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Government Grants

Does anyone take advantage of government grants for beekeepers here in the US? I saw in a catalog that there are grants available to offset the cost of beekeeping in my state, but I have not spoken to anyone who has actually taken advantage of these programs. I just didnt know if they were worth the trouble. I just wondered if anyone takes advantage of such things

Re: Government Grants

Originally Posted by Rob73

Does anyone take advantage of government grants for beekeepers here in the US?

Rob

Several of us on the forum, myself included, have received USDA (Federal) Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grants (mostly the small community based grants and a few got State based (I think State) crop related grants that include beekeeping or queen rearing. You can search the SARE database on line to view all honeybee related projects.

Some on on this forum have been just totally blasted us for using government funds so are quite gun shy from discussing what we perceive as wonderful work.

Re: Government Grants

I know good people doing good work with SARE grants. Do not be afraid to look into them if you have a worthwhile idea that will help all beekeepers. Even beekeepers who don't know what forum to post in.

Re: Government Grants

I saw it in a Kelley catalog & contacted the state apiairist. Honestly, the only government program I am involved in is paying taxes. I dont consider driving on the highway and the postal services as a program that I take advantage of, because they are all funded from the money that we spend and pay in taxes. If there is a little support out there that could help me with the cost of keeping bees, I would like to take advantage of it. It cant be much help if any. I could be wrong, I guess. It could be a bunch of money & I could expand and quit my job and do nothing but keep bees funded off the government. The hell with that though, I want to keep bees for fun, not for work. I already have a good job, I was just curious about a little benefit that may be out there.

Re: Government Grants

I was reviewing the requirements for grants and it depends on your location, however I would have to mention most submissions are due in Oct and Nov. Look at it this way, you have a year to apply, well little less, but plenty of time.

Any advice on writing one would help, even the proposal itself would be extremely helpful.

Re: Government Grants

Originally Posted by Rob73

If there is a little support out there that could help me with the cost of keeping bees, I would like to take advantage of it. It cant be much help if any. I could be wrong,

IMHO the SARE grant and a few other grants I know about that are community oriented have facilitated folks knowledge base and expertise in making their own bees and their own queens, and promoted more sustainable beekeeping practices overall. While enhanced sustainability has been the objective, these skill sets help them save money on their beekeeping whether they are backyard beekeepers or larger sideliners.

Re: Government Grants

Originally Posted by ChristopherA

Any advice on writing one would help, even the proposal itself would be extremely helpful.

Christopher A... We are probably less than an hour away from you in PW County. Send me a PM or see our website for events related to SARE... The Maine based SARE Project will be presenting at our March 8th meeting and I will present on our SARE project will be presented at the Falls Church meeting in late May. RSVP's strongly encouraged so we know how many to set up for. You can also search the database for other SARE projects on bees.http://www.PWRBeekeepers.com

PS- It can be done. I wrote that grant in one week - it was 1 of 10 that won out of over 70 applicants! Wowza. It has meant the world to us.

Re: Government Grants

Vermont received two grants from the specialty crop program. One with matching funds to start new beekeepers, and one to set up a queen rearing program to train beekeepers to raise more queens in Vermont.

Re: Government Grants

Like I said, I read in the front of a Kelley company catalog that bees provide a vital role in local economics of a community and many states offer cost sharing programs.

I wish I had never started this post.

I am not in the honey business nor do I want to be. I just would like to be able to manage bees & give a little honey to family and friends. I am perfectly happy to pay the cost of beekeeping, until I am unable to. Like I said, sorry I even got into this......

Re: Government Grants

I wouldn't be sorry. If they are giving out cash for beekeepers, mine as well stand in line. If you don't get it, someone else will. It's already allocated. No reason to get upset about it. If you don't like it, talk to your representative, don't get pissed at the people taking advantage of it.

Re: Government Grants

Yes, Michael, it would help me. I guess I didnt make myself clear. When I stated it couldnt be much help, I am under the impression that the state would not just give a huge handout and fund a beekeeping operation. That is what I meant by not much help. My expectation of a funded program was a little help buying packages of bees or giving a tax write off for the expense of an extractor or something.

Looking at a document the state apiarist sent me, the program in KY will share the cost of equipment like extractors, hives and bees. There was a whole list of stuff that they would share the cost of. That was if there were funded programs in your area.

I contacted my local Ag branch, and my area does not, nor have they ever, had any state or federally funded beekeeping programs that they were aware of. I was kind of surprised at that, I figured they would have a program in the area, with a very small allocation that was already gave out to other keepers. At the same time it does not surprise me, ya know......

Re: Government Grants

i just love paying higher taxes to fund your little bee projects. i am proud that i dont take anything that i have not worked hard for. why do you think our country is so far in debt? thinking that you should stand in line asking for a hand out is a lame excuse. just because they are giving it away doesn't make it right. as you can tell I think that grants are a big waste of government $. our forfathers that started this country would be sick if they new of the waste in our government.

Re: Government Grants

kwest,

i am not standing in line for a handout, and if you read the post, I do not receive any funds.

Be proud, lots of folks are, but you will take a tax break if they give it. Its the same thing. The government is wasting a lot more money supporting people who dont want to work than they probably give out to all grants that they fund. That is not what we are talking about here. That is a whole other topic, that I am sure is out of scope of this topic.

It was a simple post, that got some good replies, dont turn it into something negative.

I very well agree with you about the forefathers being sick. But I doubt it would be from wasting money on bees and farmers. There are way bigger issues than that. Honestly if we knew what all the government spent money on, we would probably all be sick....